Need ground in house what should i do?

[justinadelman]

Hello,
I'm not sure this is the right title, catagory. i have an old house and i have no ground wire. just 1 pos and 1 nuetral. i have an ups 350 model, basic surge protecters (6 plug)500v. and the option of gfi outlets installed. i havnt done the research on installing my own ground but ive heard thats big time $ and time. I habe 4 desktop gaming pcs and 1 laptop. how can i protect my pc life/business from surges or other unstable ground related consequences. thank you

 

[inerax]

to be honest if this is your life/business call a electrician, see what they say.

I have searched google and some sites say it is not that bad to do. But with that much hardware i would not trust my work. better safe than sorry

Give a call to a pro. you might be surprised.

 

[itzdanielp]

You would have to drive a 1/2" copper grounding rod I believe 6 or 8 feet into the ground and run 12 Guage wires from all sockets that are replaced.

Generally you run 3 wire shielded wires to your breaker box and a single wire from all of those converging into your ground, but if you are only trying to run a single outlet, you could run that straight to the ground. Not necessarily in code, but still functional.

 

[Motopsychojdn]

A basic ground can be achieved thus,
get a copper rod (or other conductive metal) make sure it is solid, not just a pipe,
screw/bolt a thick wire/cable to it and sink it 6-10" into the earth outside your house, make sure it can't be dislodged/disturbed accidentally,
then any thing you want to be earthed in the house just run a wire to that cable
thats a basic rundown and there are variables like different soil types ability to conduct charge safely
but as Inerax says, unless your confident/ secure in your ability with electrics, its a simple enough job for an electrician
**And they will know the relevant area regulations as well hehe
Moto

 

[popatim]

Do not attempt this yourself. Please call a qualified electrician.
A: Messing with ground on a live system (your house) can kill you. All the current of your house passes back thru ground; you dont really want to become part of that circuit.
B: Your house already has an earth ground usually outside by the meter. Adding a second would introduce a ground loop and just cause problems.

All you really need to do is have the 3rd wire added. Sometimes its in the outlet and just not connected but I doubt it in your case. I'd bet you have old cloth wrapped wiring and would recommend that it gets replaced before heat from a heavy load catches it on fire. My best and cheapest recommendation is to have an electrician add a few grounded outlets around the house with new wire.

 

[justinadelman]

is it true that i can just add copper wire to the third part of the outlet? or does it still need to connect to the water pipe. under the house is all hollow and easy access.

 

[gnomio]

Does the power in your house trip when you have a short eg when the toaster or kettle plug gets wet or the circuit overloads?

 

[sparx51]

I was an Electrical Contractor for 30 years +, and a tradesman for longer.

If your electrical system is wired in conduit with metal boxes or with BX (metal clad cable) then you do have a ground present at the outlet already, but it is not accessible since you have a two prong plug.


However if you house is wired with Romex cable and has only two wires you are out of luck. There will be NO ground present at the receptacle. A third (ground) wire needs to run all the way back to the panel box to carry a ground.

If you have a VOM or a test light rated at 120volts or more you can easily test for a ground at the outlet.

Test first from the two holes to verify the tester, 125volts or so with the meter or if you are using a 120volt test light it will glow. Then test from the SMALL hole in the outlet to the screw holding the cover plate on the outlet. If the screw is painted over, you will have to scrape off the paint. Or you can remove the plate and test to the yoke of the receptacle that is mechanically connected to the junction box which is mounted inside the wall.

If you get a reading from the small hole in the outlet, (this is the hot if wired properly) to the plate screw or the outlet yoke or the junction box you DO have a good ground.

If this is the case then you need to kill the circuit and install a modern 3 prong "grounded" receptacle. Get a "Simplified Wiring" book at Home Depot. Also be careful about getting advice from people that work at the big box stores, they are not the best for advice.

I started wiring in 1966, my Dad was an electrician his entire working life before me.

If you don't have a ground at the outlet box you can pick a ground up from a cold water pipe, BUT, that can be dangerous and/or more problems than I can explain here in a few paragraphs.

sparx

 

[ellmondo]

dude quit being a cheap ass. call an electrician and get the job done right. also get him to check the wiring for the rest of the house if it is old. why risk your life?

 

[justinadelman]

Best answer selected by justinadelman.

 

[sparx51]

Justinadelman

Happy to see you found my explanation useful, so how did things work out in this situation?

 

[immortelle]

at Sparx51

If the old house wiring only has 2 wire and no ground wire and I add a grounding wire to the recepticals that do not have ground by way of a metal rod into the ground, what other problems am I suseptable too?

I have a home that I rent out to a Section 8 tenant and they require that all plugs be grounded. I am trying to avoid having to home run all ground wires back to electrical panel.